Not My Breasts

Washington State Passes Children's Safe Products Act

With a signature by Governor Christine Gregoire, Washington State has set a national standard for addressing children’s health by banning toxic chemicals from both children’s toys and personal care products.

Gov. Gregoire has signed into law the Children’s Safe Products Act, establishing the nation’s strongest standard for three dangerous chemicals – lead, cadmium, and phthalates – in toys and other products marketed to children.  It also requires manufacturers to report whether their products contain other chemicals harmful to children’s health. 

Washington State follows on the heels of the October passage of California’s Toxic Toys bill, the first in the nation to protect children by banning six types of phthalates from children’s toys.  Both states responded to the increasing public demand by parents and health advocates to ensure our children’s safety, and as a result, Congress and a dozen states are now taking action.
    
Through our work with Washington’s Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition, the Breast Cancer Fund actively supported the efforts to pass this critical legislation.  Congratulations to all of our colleagues a nd partner organizations for their fantastic work to raise awareness around this issue! 

What Goes On Baby Goes In Baby, Too

On Monday, the respected medical journal Pediatrics published a study that could (should) change the way parents use and think about the lotions, powders and shampoos they rub on their babies.

The study showed a correlation between exposure to these typical personal care products and the levels of phthalates in the babies' urine. In other words, the babies who got the most lotion, powder and shampoo on their skin also had the highest levels of these toxic chemicals in their little bodies.

Phthalates, unfortunately for us and our kids, are not harmless. They've been linked to breast cancer, early puberty in girls, reduced testosterone levels, lowered sperm counts, genital defects in baby boys and testicular cancer.

Phthalates are often hidden in the ingredient "fragrance" because a loophole in U.S. law allows manufacturers to avoid disclosing the components of fragrance or perfume in products. The chemicals are also used to keep plastics soft and pliable--for use in products like baby toys and teethers, among other plastics.

In fact, phthalate exposure among kids is of such high concern that California recently banned them from toys intended for children 3 and younger (this bill was co-sponsored by the Breast Cancer Fund and Environment California in 2007), Congress has introduced a similar bill (the Children's Chemical Risk Reduction Act of 2007) and the state of Washington is considering a broader ban that would include phthalates, lead and cadmium in toys as well as personal care products for kids 12 and under.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, of which the Breast Cancer Fund is a part, expressed concern for both babies and women of childbearing age--baby's first environment. But this groundbreaking study proves what we already knew: what goes on our skin goes in our bodies. With that in mind, it's time we closed the loopholes on cosmetic safety in the U.S.

The Link Between Global Warming and Breast Cancer

Say "environment" today, and many brains go straight to global warming and polar bears floating on shrinking islands of ice. And understandably so.

When we say "environment," the Breast Cancer Fund is often talking about a closer, more personal environment: our cosmetics, our plastic containers, pesticides in our food, the stuff we use to clean the counters and dismantle the weeds from our lawns. We speak less about the bigger pollution problems affecting our air, water, oceans and soil.

It's not for lack of evidence. A current example: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. They're in the air as a result of combustion, and they're linked to both global warming and breast cancer. (For more on the science of PAHs and breast cancer risk, check back in February when BCF releases our fifth edition of State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment.)

So it came as a blow to both the environment and public health when the U.S. EPA--the agency charged with protecting our environment--in December denied California permission to set stricter regulations on tailpipe emissions. With 16 other states in line to adopt California's standards, the proposed state rules would have affected as many as half of all U.S. drivers.

California and 15 states filed suit against the EPA in early January, and some in Congress are asking questions about how EPA could deny California's request--when even the EPA's own experts had advised approval.

You can voice your support for higher state emissions standards--for our personal AND environmental health--by sending an e-mail through our Web site, at www.breastcancerfund.org/emissions.

You know you've made it when...

Remember Chucky from the horror flick series, Child's Play? Meet another nightmare toy: Phthalate Phil, courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle editorial cartoonist Tom Meyer.

Phthalate Phil is on his way out, thanks to California's brand-new Toxic Toys law.

We won on toxic toys!

A 25-foot inflatable ducky outside San Francisco's City Hall captured the attention of media (and passersby, including a flock of tourists) at an October 10 press conference with co-sponsors the Breast Cancer Fund and Environment California, and author California state Assemblywoman Fiona Ma. We were there to help sway Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the Toxic Toys bill, AB 1108, into law. And then we crossed our fingers. This was not a bill the chemical industry wanted to see signed.

Crossed fingers unfurled to cheers and applause late Sunday when it was announced that the governor had signed our bill into law. Starting in January 2009, toys and children's products like bath books and teethers - all those things that little kids suck and chew on - sold in California may not contain chemical plasticizers called phthalates. Phthalates make plastic soft (and chew-friendly), but they also disrupt the delicate hormonal dance in people - especially developing children. Phthalates have been linked to early puberty (a risk factor for breast cancer), genital abnormalities in baby boys, testicular cancer and liver problems.

The best news: this law protects more than just California's children. Several other states are interested in replicating the California Toxic Toys bill, and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein wants to take it to the national level. Because, as Breast Cancer Fund state policy coordinator Gretchen Lee put it in the San Francisco Chronicle, "phthalates are a problem no matter where you live."

Read more from the Chronicle and USA Today.

Step awaaaay from the duck

Today the Breast Cancer Fund and our allies organized a press conference in the governor's press room in the state Capitol to urge Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign the toxic toys bill, AB 1108. The bill, which would ban dangerous chemicals from children’s toys, was passed by the state Legislature and has landed on the governor’s desk for his signature or veto.

Along with our colleagues at Environment California, we brought 1,000 rubber duckies to the state Capitol, along with concerned parents, their children, and teen activists concerned about toy safety. Most of the major networks showed up, as they did last week in Los Angeles for evening news coverage of our fight to ban these harmful chemicals. We worked with pediatrician Harvey Karp, who spoke at our Los Angeles event, to place an opinion column in the LA Times today urging the governor to sign the bill.

Meanwhile, the chemical industry is dumping a ton of money into ads opposing the bill. They ran a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times opposing the bill, and this week they are running ads on CNN and MSNBC. We could use your help in this fight: you can take action by faxing the governor and you can make a donation to the Breast Cancer Fund to support our work to make families and communities safe from chemicals linked to breast cancer.

In the last few weeks, millions of toys worldwide have been recalled by Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher-Price after alarming levels of lead were found in them. "But toys with harmful chemicals can still be found on store shelves throughout Californiaand the rest of the country," said Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, sponsor of the bill.

Once signed, AB 1108 will require all child care products and toys sold in California for children to be free of chemicals called phthalates. Scientists worldwide have linked phthalates (pronounced "THA-lates") to lowered sperm counts, early onset of puberty, testicular cancer and liver problems. These chemicals are found in rubber duckies, teething rings, bath books and other soft plastic toys and can leech out of these toys when children suck or chew on them.